Archive for November 4th, 2014

At last June’s WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference), Apple announced HomeKit, a new feature of iOS 8 that allows home automation manufacturers to tie their devices to Apple hardware and software, for both basic remote control and smart integration between devices.

Image courtesy of Apple

HomeKit-aware products will make use of chips from Marvell, Texas Instruments, and Broadcom that include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities, along with special firmware developed by Apple that contains the HomeKit protocol, which is designed to unify devices from multiple manufacturers under one controlling architecture: Apple’s iOS.

The HomeKit protocol is used to announce a device’s presence to iOS devices, and define what the device is capable of doing and what actions it can perform. Working together, an iOS device, such as your iPhone or iPad, or perhaps even a new Apple TV, could issue commands to control your home’s lighting, heating and cooling, music, and security. It could even monitor the weather for you, and perhaps close the skylights when the forecast calls for rain.